Decatur, Illinois sports writer

I don't know anything about this newspaper, but I've been to Decatur a few times. It's not awful.

http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=826749

The Herald & Review is seeking an enthusiastic, innovative writer to help us keep up with an area rich in top sports programs, to develop sources, come away with more than just a game story and help us continue to expand our Web presence.

The person must also be versatile enough to hop over to cover colleges and general assignment work and perform copy editing duties once or twice a week for an award-winning section.

Send resume and work samples to: Mike Albright, sports editor, Decatur Herald & Review, PO Box 311, Decatur, Ill., 62525; e-mail at malbright@herald-review.com; or call at (217) 421-7909.

 

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/46876/

 

I grew up in Decatur ... it is terrible.
Anybody know who left?

 

Not sure who left- but Decatur isn't so bad.

Smells of soy...but one you get past that -its just like any other college town in Illinois.

The sports are alright. Maroa-Forsyth is solid in basketball and football- winning the state title in both sports two years ago...

The Herald also covers Millikin University- a small D-3 school. Don't expect great sports from the University. The football team is usually at the bottom of the conference, as is the basketball team (though they did just hire a new coach to run the program)- but the women's team won a National Title in '05. The volleyball team has had some success as well.

And besides that. Mike Albright is a really great editor to work for.

If you can handle the smell, this is a solid place to work.

 

What does soy smell like?

 

If its anything like what we have here in Iowa, it would be no change for me

 

The ASE Mike Drapa is also good people.

 

So the paper covers preps and a D-3 college? Anything else of note?

 

They have lots of U of I coverage- as Decatur is 40 minutes from Champaign...thus right in the middle of Illini country.

But most- if not all- of the Illini coverage is done by Mark Tupper.

 

I've always thought Decatur was runner-up to Terre Haute, Ind. in the Armpit of America contest ... but that's just me. My grandparents lived there when I was young.

 

Decatur is WAY ahead of Terre Haute in the armpit contest. Sleep on the Haute at your peril, its enjoying a bit of a renaissance with some downtown development, etc.

 

Hello all. Longtime forum stalker, first-time poster.

I'm Andrew Petersen, and I'm leaving the Herald & Review to take a job with the Quad City Times. I've been in Decatur a little more than two years so I can offer my opinion based on that time.

About the town – Decatur does carry a soy smell some of the time. I can't say I've gotten used to it, but it's not unbearable nor is it constant. Where I live (near Eisenhower High School) the smell comes around usually under thick cloud cover and maybe once a week. If you live further west or south, it's even less frequent. I've enjoyed my time hanging out in Decatur's downtown area (some good restaurants and bars). Still, I wouldn't call it a college town necessarily. There is D-3 Millikin, but the town does not revolve around the school.

About the paper – The best part about this job is the people at the paper. Phenomenal sports staff that does high-caliber work, yet doesn't take itself too seriously. The crux of the coverage is preps, hands down. Illinois gets its ink, but the H&R covers 50+ high schools and does it better than anyone else in Illinois (with a much smaller staff than most.) From football to basketball to softball to wrestling, we almost always have one or more teams at state and I'll stack IHSA athletics up against any other state. Almost all the coaches are tremendous to deal with and are (typically) honest with you whether the coverage is a positive or critical.

The H&R is also extremely progressive with its Web presence and has other Central Illinois papers scrambling to keep up. Between the three of us covering preps, we blog several times a week, record a weekly vodcast preview of that Friday’s football games and do standups from the game that get mixed in with video highlights of usually four football games. Check it out at http://www.herald-review.com/preps/ and try to tell me there’s an under-40,000 paper that does it better.

I'm proud to have worked at the H&R, and in my time there I've improved dramatically. Anyone interested is welcome to send me questions, and I'll answer as best I can.